Do you indulge in "silly" or "fancy" components anywhere in your builds?
By this I mean a part that quantifiably does not offer any meaningful benefit, but that you include because its "fancy" or gives you "warm fuzzy feelings" inside. This could include exotic capacitors, NOS Dale resistors, silver wire, gold over copper connectors, etc.
By this I mean a part that quantifiably does not offer any meaningful benefit, but that you include because its "fancy" or gives you "warm fuzzy feelings" inside. This could include exotic capacitors, NOS Dale resistors, silver wire, gold over copper connectors, etc.
Yes, but mostly cheap side, I swear that germanium trannies are giving me better heart rythm, and that old russian MLT resistors are just "normal-rugged resistors", while modern alternatives must be "neurotic new kids".
Honestly I force oldies, because of money, as I can not afford my hobbie. Yet there are so many "specialty" parts that I can assimilate, asign character to and etc..
Honestly I force oldies, because of money, as I can not afford my hobbie. Yet there are so many "specialty" parts that I can assimilate, asign character to and etc..
Yes, for projects that I publish on diyAudio, I tend to choose Zetex transistors because they are seldom counterfeited. That reduces heartache among builders who might otherwise have purchased from sketchy websites that are flooded with counterfeit crapoleon. I also tend to specify Panasonic EEU-FR electrolytic capacitors because they have extremely low ESR...and they're not much more expensive. I want builders to wind up with really good capacitors in their "leftover parts" box. Then, sometime later when the urge to "use whatever you've got" becomes overwhelming, what they've got is actually quite excellent.
I've built three audio circuits with valves. The first was a transistor-valve hybrid high-voltage amplifier where there were clear technical advantages to using valves in the output stage. In the other two cases, a phono amplifier and a DAC, I chose valves for non-technical reasons. Does that count as silly or fancy or does it depend on what the non-technical reasons were?
I do recycle parts from other builds, also from stuff i fixed. So i have some expensive mundorf caps in some crossovers that i took from a bad designed crossover by someone else that i fixed (and then sold the speaker for more money than i put in). And i have some QED interconnects that normal price is way to expensive, but i got them very cheap (and they are good build). But for the rest it's no-nonsens for me. Good filmcaps are those that are well build and with little tollerances, not a fancy brand name that audiophools need to feed their ego. Resistors idem.
I like tubes and class A and fullrange drivers, but i'm not spending tons of money on those (find the good cheap) and i know it's not the most neutral thing, but i like the sound. If you include that i do.
I like tubes and class A and fullrange drivers, but i'm not spending tons of money on those (find the good cheap) and i know it's not the most neutral thing, but i like the sound. If you include that i do.
Does using a $12 solid aluminum volume control knob count? Because I've done that a few times. It does nothing for the sound, but I like it and so do other people.
Wima film caps, Dale CMF resistors, Nichicon or Panasonic electrolytic capacitors... I don't think it's too extravagant. It definitely is part of the reason my circuits work so well. And Alps Blue Velvet potentiometers? Well, I've never had so much as a crackle out of one... worth it to me.
If you're not going to build better, then you might as well cobble stuff together from the resale shop.
Wima film caps, Dale CMF resistors, Nichicon or Panasonic electrolytic capacitors... I don't think it's too extravagant. It definitely is part of the reason my circuits work so well. And Alps Blue Velvet potentiometers? Well, I've never had so much as a crackle out of one... worth it to me.
If you're not going to build better, then you might as well cobble stuff together from the resale shop.
I used to work with a guy who thought a;; parts were special. Even to the point of ordering (then) common parts like 4558 from each OEM that used them. Identical parts, but he felt somehow that the ones from Fender would be different from the ones from Marshall. I came into a large supply of surplus precision resistors, and I liked replacing a bad 1500 ohm resistor with one say 1480 ohms, or 1550. I knew he would go nuts trying to figure why the OEM chose such odd values.
Odd value resistors were often specified when that particular resistor was different (like metal film vs carbon film) from the other resistors. They did this so the assemblers wouldn't put in the wrong type of resistor. Example: specify a 1.02K resistor so the assembler doesn't stick a 1K carbon resistor in when the design specifies metal film.
Actually glow discharge voltage reference tubes have a technical advantage: they are very good when you look at the ratio of their unfiltered noise level to the reference voltage they provide, see https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/power-supplies/359652-fine-ic-voltage-regulators-12.html#post6334678
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I do that for *one* type of components: Tubes.
Here in Argentina greedy importers buy bottom of the barrel and swept from the floor junk to maximize profits, so dud rate is incredibly high.
Even when buying apparently "serious" Brands such as JJ
So to avid getting burnt and "married to" (warranty) dubious tubes, I send customers to buy (on their dime) Fender tubes straight from official Fender importer shop.
Not the best, not the worst, at least I know at some time they were tested by Fender for their own use, good enough for me.
And I brush off my shoulders any warranty claim: "you bought it from Todo Música? go argue with THEM!"
I use a VR glow tube instead of a zener for regulating the grid bias in my MA-1 designs. Mostly because of it's appearance. I use nixies for indication for the same reason, and it's easier than 7 segment to implement because there's no extra circuitry involved. My preamps all have 6E2 level meters as well.
